Love is a Battlefield
by MoonlightKitten22
Summary: AU They never should have left Princess Serenity behind to go to war. Because, as her brother could have told every single one of these idiots, she did not do well with being cooped up and having nothing useful to do.
1. Love is a Battlefield

_Disclaimer_: Does this seem even remotely like anything they'd show on tv? Nah, don't own it and I really don't want to. Can you imagine the paperwork?

Another spur of the moment fic, I hope you like it.

**~Love is a Battlefield~**

To put it frankly, she was furious. Not that her husband-to-be didn't love her or respect her or even wanted to marry her; although that was particularly vexing as well. Not that it was a war between his lands and those of his age-old enemy, Demando; even if annoying, there wasn't much to be done about that and it was waiting to happen anyway. Not that all of her friends, although female, had gone off to fight the war along with their husbands and her husband-to-be; no matter how much she missed them, it was fairly acceptable and they _were_ one of the country's most valuable assets in a war.

No, it was the fact that she was not allowed to fight. Her husband-to-be, ignorant as he was, knew absolutely nothing of her. Not about where she came from, not about how she'd grown up and not about what she felt like. And he didn't care. To him, she was a useful trade that made sure her lands agreed to trade with his, and assist him in a war.

Every single time she ran into him, he was nothing but rude – completely unlike the gracious King he was supposed to be –, he never tried to have a civil talk with her – great way to get to know whom you're supposed to be marrying –, he mostly looked at her with disgust – she was a princess, and a well-raised one at that so she did not deserve those looks – and he'd made it perfectly clear to her, over and over again, that he'd never get married if it'd been up to him – so _why_ had the idiot agreed to marry her, then? -.

Her future husband, the person she was to be stuck with for the rest of her life, didn't care about her at all. In preparation for the wedding, she'd been moved to his castle half a year before the event was to take place. She'd met her friends, the generals' wives, at that very same castle. In all that time, she'd tried to get to know the man she was to marry. Of couse, since he wasn't exactly forthcoming with anything but insults to her, she'd had to use other sources. Fortunately, her friends' husbands were his best friends, so she'd gotten to know a side of him he most certainly never showed to her. And she knew that, if she would ever get to actually meet that side, it would be almost too easy to fall in love with him.

Too easy because, through all of the stories, she already had.

Then war had broken out and they hadn't yet gotten the chance to get married. The last thing he'd told her before he left to go and fight was that he was glad – some more free time before getting permanently stuck with her. She'd hissed at him, almost cat-like in her anger, and walked back into the castle.

She hadn't been allowed to come with, because she'd only be a burden to all of them and would be of no practical use in a fight, other than as a distraction. Like all things deemed useless in a war, she'd been left behind. It was completely unfair, because not only did that make her feel absolutely horrible about herself and the upcoming marriage, but he also didn't know enough of her to be making that judgement. As the youngest princess, she wasn't required to take the throne and had therefore been allowed pretty much free reign.

Suffice to say that she would be of plenty use in a war, if he'd only. Bloody. _Asked_. But no, of course his judgement was always the just one and she had absolutely no say in what was to happen to her. The only person who'd cared for her in her homeland had been her brother, the prince, and even he'd been forced to concede when she'd suddenly become part of a trade agreement with their rich neighbouring country. Now she was here and her future husband didn't even try to care. Unfortunately, she hadn't been allowed that luxury and had been her usual self, having to get to know everyone and thinking the best of them.

Look where that had gotten her. Stuck in a cold castle, feeling absolutely useless and waiting only for the return of the husband-to-be that hated her. Just _fabulous._

Due to her training, she could fight. Due to her education, she could strategize. Due to her size, she could make every single one of those enemies underestimate her and then make sure they'd never make that mistake again. In fact, she could do all of that to her husband-to-be. Despite the time she and her friends had spent together, they were still getting to know one another and to them, she was still a bit of a stuck-up unknown princess that was meant to marry their King. They dealt with her because he was their friend, and their husbands' friend and she was to marry him and tie him down for the rest of his life. She called them friends and she thought of them like that, but it wasn't much more than a superficial one where they provided her with company.

Except now they were out there, showing just how useful the lot of them were in a war, while she was stuck in this pile of rocks. Great, they knew how to fight and how to shoot arrows and how to strategize and how to lay the best traps. _Good for them_. And when the lot of them would come back victorious – no matter how uncertain that still was – nothing would have changed and she'd have been stuck in here while they were out there, being useful and loved and respected.

Well, if it took fighting for him to think her useful and to love her and to respect her, then that would be what she'd do. Because, as her brother could have told every single one of these idiots, Princess Serenity did _not_ do well with being cooped up and having nothing useful to do. So either she was going to drive everyone in this damned castle into insanity or she'd go out there and do something useful.

Which was exactly why she was pulling on these clothes.

Honestly, she'd always thought Prince Demando an arrogant ass. Those few times he'd visited their kingdom – they'd never lasted long, since he and her brother couldn't stand one another either – she'd thought him creepy and a bit too obsessed with her. Right now, her husband-to-be was in a fight with him, and she most certainly knew whom she'd be supporting. Caught in a bit of a deadlock from what she'd heard from the latest messenger, she was determined to shake things up a bit. And what better way to shake things up and decimate some of Demando's army than to sneak into his camp and randomly kill some of his soldiers? Preferably that annoying right hand of his, Rubeus, as well.

So she was getting dressed in black clothes and made sure to have something covering her annoyingly noticeable hair. In various pieces of her getup, weapons were being hidden. Even if she lost one weapon, there would be plenty more available. These morons had no idea what was coming to them, and she just wasn't kind enough to send them some sort of warning. They'd asked for it, the lot of them with their stupid greed and their stupid selfishness and their stupid male ego problems. Honestly; just bloody _measure_ them and move on to more important things like, for example, the world outside them.

Most of the soldiers she was going to carefully exterminate this evening would be innocent bystanders, forced to participate in a conflict between two people who'd accidentally ended up being leaders of their lands. There was absolutely no end to human selfishness.

Obviously, there also had been other leaders that had taken sides and were participating in this conflict. Her own homeland was standing by the side of her husband-to-be – which they'd better be, considering she was marrying him – whereas the Queen Beryl had taken the side of Demando. No matter, they'd all be dead by the end of this war if she had anything to say about it. They'd started the conflict, causing thousands of innocents to be forced to battle for the whims of one lunatic that decided he _just_ couldn't be happy with the state of affairs. Selfish little prince deserved everything he had coming to him, and she was going to deliver it.

It would be almost too easy to sneak by all the guards in the castle, few as there were. Already, she had a note prepared for when the leftovers at the castle realized she was gone; an explanation of how the war was getting too close and how she'd ran off to her homeland to be safe, and how she'd be returning once it was safer again. Not completely untrue, since things had gotten closer to the castle and she would be returning... probably. At the moment, looking forward to a loveless marriage and being forced to be seen through a mask – she didn't know if she'd mind too much dying for a good cause, like putting an end to this moronic war before even more people got needlessly killed and even more of the harvest would be lost and even more of the country would fall into despair. She'd see what would happen.

The final daggers had been put into her clothing, and now it was the turn to her swords. A bow was deemed too impractical for this trip, since she'd be able to do most by just approaching stealthily. For the rest, she had both regular throwing knives and shuriken. Deciding she was ready, she started moving toward the exit of the castle, making sure no one would notice.

No, they never should have left Princess Serenity behind.

~*~

Stupidity was underrated, she thought. After all, Prince Demando's encampment was close enough to the trees for them to cover her approach even more. Furthermore, that forest was particularly difficult to navigate and if anyone tried to run in there, they'd likely never get out before being eaten by the various wild creatures that lived there. In all, it was in the perfect place for a succesful surprise attack and the epitome of stupidity. Even the mountains would've been a better idea. The moron obviously should've done some more research before just blundering into someone else's lands.

Night had fallen a little while ago, leaving her some eight hours to seriously cut down on the army of Demando and Beryl. The design of the campground left her to plan her attack carefully, and she knew the lot of them wouldn't stand a chance. Almost silly, how it could be such a good idea for a single person to attack as opposed to an entire army. Saved down on the casualties, too, which was a positive thing.

Most certainly, this would be a night to remember. A slow grin spread on her face as she moved into action, almost undetectable due to her speed and size. In fact, it appeared to be completely undetectable to the guards who, seconds later, were lying on the ground with their eyes wide open. They were lucky she didn't do torture, since if she'd sliced just a little less far into their throats, they probably would've been laying there for a while, bleeding to death and unable to make a sound.

Having easily entered, she moved on into the encampment itself. The roofs would've been just as easy, and she wouldn't have needed to kill those guards, but at least it would've been clear they didn't just let her through and so they wouldn't be punished when people would be getting pissed over the massacre the next day. In a way, she'd been merciful to them.

Sneaking into the first tent, it was too easy to kill the ten men sleeping in there. None even realized the others were dying, or even their own swift death. Poor fools never stood a chance, and she mentally apologized to any family they might be leaving behind. Despicable war, forcing things like this to happen.

Over the next hour, she moved on to several other tents, repeating the process. No matter how gruesome every single death was to her, it was becoming seriously boring. That, and if she went on like this, there would be no one left in the morning. There was need for some resistance if they even wanted to stand a chance. Somehow, this just made her feel like some sort of creepy assassin – which, admittedly, she was acting like at the moment. There was nothing even resembling war in this entire situation. Besides, she wanted them to panic and have a serious lack of sleep, not to wake up and realize they were completely out of innocents to fight their war for them. That would only cause more casualties in the end, when they came back with more.

So, some two tents later, she moved closer to the edge again and let one of the guards see her as she exited the tent with a bloodied sword. The poor man had time to raise the alarm before being killed himself. The situation was about to get risky, which was exactly what she'd hoped for. No way was she going to feel more useful if all she managed was to surprise some poor men in their sleep.

It was almost funny to see how they realized how many tents had already been visited by death that night, men running in screaming for help and coming out pale and frightened. Soon, they were somewhat actively hunting her, if they ever managed to spot her that was. Most of them didn't, and she showed up at their backs multiple times, allowing them to only open their mouth to scream for help before killing them as well. She had them running all over the camp, and soon their famed leaders came out to see what was going on with their previously silent encampment.

Rubeus didn't even have time to ask before a throwing knife hit him in the heart, instantly killing him. The man had annoyed her needlessly and the death of a leading figure would cause even more panic. True enough, some of the soldiers ran for the forest. Poor idiots. She didn't kill either Demando or Beryl on purpose, knowing that wasn't quite her fight. Their seconds, Safiru and Esmeraude, would make for nice new leaders and were also off-limits for killing. Those two would probably do a better job at leading the kingdoms and at least they weren't as hell-bent on a war as their respective older siblings were.

Screams filled the area as fear started to take over. Their attacker was only ever briefly seen, a black blur, before another dead body fell over. There was no organization and any attempts by their leaders were soon ignored when every attempt at recovering was cut short by another untimely death. Although it seemed to last forever to the scared soldiers, sunrise was soon approaching.

Enough damage had been done for her husband-to-be and her brother to deliver a fatal strike, if they were smart enough to recognize the opportunity. She sincerely hoped so, since they hadn't been doing much if that wasn't the case. Or, perhaps – although it was probably too much to hope for – Demando and Beryl would retreat and be reasonable, keeping from leading all of these people into their untimely deaths. Yes, that would definitely be too much to hope for, knowing the two whiny, stuck up brats that never learned what it was like not to get what they wanted. Selfish morons, united in their blindness to everyone else but themselves.

With one final kill, she decided to round up this exercize and move into the trees. If she moved a bit further back in the direction of the castle, she would be in the perfect position to see this day's battle. Not to mention to make some of them scream in fear once again by throwing some weapons at them from the trees.

Satisfied, she pulled back and left the enemy camp devastated and beyond exhausted from an active, if unproductive night. She'd also calmed down a lot herself, the activity doing her some good and helping in making her frustration ease up a bit. Now that she'd asserted to herself that not only was she not a useless trophy wife to be ignored, she was also as able as ever even despite her lack of practice, her feelings of unhappiness had lessened considerably. No, she wasn't happy she was going to be married to a man that would never love her back and no, she wasn't happy with the state of her life in general. But at least she wasn't useless.

Despite the prayers she was still saying for the souls of the people she'd killed, Serenity felt somewhat better now.

~*~

As predicted, her view of the battlefield was practically perfect. She'd thrown a few knives – her husband-to-be's soldiers hadn't known what to do with their terrified opponents - , she'd admired the argument her former suitor and her husband-to-be had had – of course, he had no idea what Demando was talking about when he accused him of the sneak attack that night - , she'd looked at her friends, their husbands and her brother on the battlefield for a bit – as predicted, they were all briljant – and she'd generally looked at her future husband greedily as he fought the enemy – he was gorgeous, no denying it, and his fighting was a work of art in itself – .

However, the expected strike back at Demando's army didn't come, and she realized the messenger had been severely wrong; her husband-to-be had been losing the war and now, finally, they were on somewhat even footing. Her frustration rose a notch again. If he'd managed to at least be honest about the situation, she'd have been able to plan more of a strategy than the one she'd had. But _no_, for some reason he seemed to want her to be ambushed in his castle, unprepared, when Demando would finally run them over and go there immediately after. For some reason, he couldn't even be honest with her when he was losing a war. Moron.

It was partly her own fault, she supposed. Instead of distrusting her husband-to-be and checking for herself the status of things at his own camp, she'd simply assumed he'd be kind enough to tell her the truth about this. Why trust him, after all? He'd made it blatantly obvious he didn't care about her or her opinion and that he would do things exactly the way he wanted to, regardless of her. For all he cared, she was a dog that was to follow when he wished to. And yet, she'd expected him to tell the truth?

Such a dangerous thing, unconditional love.

Why she'd ever fallen for this man was a riddle to her, sometimes. Sure, he was gorgeous and an amazing fighter. But she wasn't that superficial and, if she were to be honest, if those were traits that attracted her; she'd have accepted Demando's proposal and have been done with it. The man was rich after all, not too bad to look at and a good fighter. On the inside, however, he was a selfish spoilt brat that cared nothing for anyone but himself, his own satisfaction and the easiest way to reach this.

The stories her friends and their husbands told her about her husband-to-be showed another man than that entirely, and her own observations when he didn't think she was there also gave her a different picture than he portrayed to her. Apparently lonely and forced into ruling his kingdom from a young age, he had no idea how to let people in. He cared for the people in his kingdom, however, and tried to do the best by everyone in his capacity as a King. He was noble in a way that was rare these days and appreciative of even the little things. She'd often seen him taking a walk in his rose garden and he seemed a totally different person at those times. Since he was a great person inside and to the persons he was close to, she supposed that there was just something about her that was not loveable. For her, it was impossible to get past his walls and apparently she just wasn't good enough for him.

A battlefield was not the best place to be thinking of the reasons why she loved the stubborn idiot, though, so she snapped out of it and threw a quick knife at a soldier that was about to kill one of her brother's generals; men she wasn't close to, but she knew he appreciated them. Around him, enemy soldiers screamed as they noted the design on the dagger, looking around them in fear and making them a very easy target to kill. The general almost thought the design looked familiar, but had no time to linger on that trail of thoughts as he was being drawn back into battle.

Not much appeared to be happening, since the two armies were quite evenly matched. _Idiot_. Since she wanted this fighting to be over with today, she supposed it was time to get in there and help along a bit. Not like a battlefield was the best place for fighting, of course, since everyone was everywhere and the usual elegant practice had practically no use unless one was a true expert. Still, for that one idiot soldier to think that his opponent knew the same fighting style and moves was quite ridiculous. In a war, you try to slam your sword into your enemy before he does the same to you; any fighting practice was thrown to the side.

Taking this into account, it was surprisingly easy to quickly kill quite a few more of Beryl's soldiers before any of them even realized she was there. Cries of 'demon' then filled the group before they fell down onto the blood-covered ground, their eyes lifeless. Quite funny to think how easy it was for a skilled fighter to be deemed unnatural by the morons that just couldn't fight it. Honestly, it wasn't even as though she used any magic tricks, just her natural speed and skill with weapons. Not her fault they were crap at fighting a skilled opponent.

Some time and a lot of dead later, she finally ran into a skilled opponent that actually presented a challenge. It was a female under the direct control of the late Rubeus, so it wasn't too surprising that she knew how to fight. Even this challenge wasn't too spectacular, since she didn't even end up wounded before being able to kill the woman. Somewhat disappointing, but then again, who knew what kind of wound would have been inflicted? Besides being crude, wars were also unpredictable.

In a way, it was amusing how she was thinning out the enemy army from behind while the ones in the front had no idea what was going on. Most never even saw her before dying, since she wasn't particularly tall. Especially compared to the men the battlefield was dominated by. Her size had always been somewhat advantageous, making her quicker, allowing her to evade attacks easier, having no one notice her in time and causing her to be underestimated pretty much all the time.

Bored quickly by the easy kills, she started to think. The day was passing quickly and the death toll on both sides was rising, although the one on the enemy side was quicker to do so because of her interference. Still, it looked to become an unresolved battle with merely a lot of dead people at the end of the day, which was exactly the result she hadn't wanted when she'd attacked that night. She'd hoped for a battle that would decide something about the balance in this war, not one that decided night was just not the perfect time to kill people because many of them turned out to be on your side, and that the next day would be better to start again.

At that moment, she saw Demando and her husband-to-be approaching one another. She couldn't hear what they were yelling about, but both appeared to be quite pissed off at one another. It looked like that deciding fight she'd wanted would be coming after all, because the two males were going to clash.

Indeed, they were locked in a swordfight soon enough and she decided to get closer, even though that was the center of the battlefield and it would be hard to continue on like she had. This was a deciding fight, after all, and she refused to let her future husband get killed by that arrogant swine. Nothing good would come out of a victory like that, since the greedy child would only keep wanting more, instead of being satisfied with what he had. It had always been like that and it would always be like that. Furthermore, any victory by Demando was likely to happen just because he had a disturbing little plan that would constitute as cheating had this been anything but a war.

Like the bowman she'd just thoughtfully pierced with a shuriken. If it were up to her, this would not be the way he won his precious little war. Two more of them were out and a third appeared to have been taken out by one of her friends' husbands, who by then had caught on to Demando's plan, even though it evaded him who could be the one stopping it.

Anger flared again as she realized that her husband-to-be's shoulder wound had to have been present when he'd sent his last messenger. Could that man tell her _nothing_? She hoped he was proud of himself, fighting an army and needlessly killing his men because he wouldn't communicate. She hoped he was proud of himself, fighting an enemy that now had a clear advantage over him that would probably get him killed. Honestly, he was such a bloody moron and he would be lucky if she stopped chewing him out for his idiocy by the time they were both old. At the moment, she really couldn't care less that he really couldn't care less about her opinion; if he kept being an idiot like this, he'd just have to put up with it instead of having her trying to be nice.

By now, she was close to the fighting and dropping enemy soldiers left and right in order to get there quicker. The enemy had isolated him and, even though the bowmen that should have taken him out were now out of commission, this was a dangerous situation. His generals,as well as her brother, were trying to reach him but were mostly unsuccessful, and she was the only one actually closing in on them. No one had noticed her, too focused on the fight between the weakened king and Demando. It didn't matter how good a fighter her future husband was, Demando was also a great fighter and he had the advantage of being uninjured. With his wound slowing him down and weakening him, the battle was already fought and they both knew it.

Then _why_, she had to wonder, did he have to be so stupidly stubborn as to get into the fight anyway?

Just when she broke through the final layer of enemy soldiers, Demando managed to knock her future husband's sword away as he fell to the ground, a bleeding wound on his leg. With a final 'I'll have everything that once belonged to you, now', Demando brought down his sword for the killing blow. She vaguely heard cries around her as her future husband's allies watched this, but all she focused on at the moment was getting there in time to prevent it.

Inches before impacting, Demando's sword was stopped by another, the sharp sound of swords hitting seeming to dominate the entire battlefield. All eyes were on her, and she heard whispers of 'demon' from the enemy soldiers that recognized her from that night. Demando, too, recognized her as the one that had killed many of his men last night and a grin appeared on his face. He seemed eager to prove himself the best and she eagerly took the challenge.

Both were taking one another in as they prepared for battle – okay, that was a lie. She knew enough about him already, having known him way before and having observed him that night and during this battle as well. To him, however, she was an unknown opponent. No, she was currently thinking about how ridiculously easy it would be for just one person to realize everyone was staring at them and to start killing off enemy soldiers, because no one was fighting anymore. It had lessened when trying to reach the King, but now that he was temporarily safe, she was an interesting unknown to everyone.

Disappointingly enough, it was easy to tell when Demando was going to attack, and she simply evaded the attack. He was feeling her out, and she was going to tease him into a rage. Self-absorbed idiot deserved to have someone mock him. And of course, she was happy to take up that role in his life, even though she knew he'd die before finally being knocked off his figurative high horse. Still, it could be fun.

The next minutes were taken up by him attacking and her evading all of his jabs easily enough. She could see, however, he'd soon have enough of it and start attacking seriously. Taking one last look around and noticing that it seemed her brother recognized who it was that was currently facing the enemy leader, although no one else had – they were all _morons_ and completely oblivious to the world around them, even if she had to cut them some slack because they'd been fighting for quite a few hours already – the true fight began.

Completely unlike the fighting that was common on a battlefield, theirs was an elegant dance of two experts that were seeing how much the other knew. It soon became complicated enough for the basic soldiers and even those of higher rank to marvel at the dance they were performing. Demando seemed to be enjoying himself with an opponent that could keep up with him and she had to admit she'd missed this as well. Perhaps, when this was done, she'd invite her future husband for a fight. Even injured, he'd been skilled.

Neither of the combatants spoke and no one else dared break the silence either. A wider circle had been made in order to accomodate them, allowing his generals to reach their King as well as her brother. Except the latter, they were all staring at her in astonishment, wondering who she could be. Even now, she relished in the surprised look in the dark blue eyes of her husband-to-be when he had first seen her. Her brother just looked somewhere in between proud and worried. Knowing that her future husband was safe, she focused wholly on the fight.

Sure, she was skilled at fighting and her size and speed gave her an extra edge. But she needed it in this fight, because she lacked the strength of a male. Demando was quite a lot taller than her and more muscled as well, so she made sure not to take too many swings head-on, knowing it would tire her too quickly. By now, she'd given him quite a few teasing cuts that were meant to annoy him. She'd also gotten some wounds in return, however, the first she'd gotten since she'd decided to head into the battle. It was kind of pathetic that one man could do what so many soldiers, both trained and untrained, had been unable to do. One of the demands of leadership, she supposed.

Of course, she shouldn't have counted on a somewhat fair fight. From his face when Beryl joined in the fight and managed barely a glancing blow, he had planned on this being fair, considering he'd finally found an opponent that could match him. It was not to be, and now it was two against one.

Besides the glancing blow that had caused another bloody wound, it was actually easier fighting this way. Demando was skilled and, while Beryl knew how to deal with a sword, she just wasn't up to his level. Their cooperation was messy at best and their frustration at her evasion and one another's incompetence caused the entire fight to be off-balance. With a silent apology to Esmeraude and a wish death might be a better place, she quickly managed to corner and kill Beryl once she'd set her mind to it. She didn't even think Demando put up as much of a fight as he should have.

Then, they had the ground for themselves again, and this time it was serious. After the night they'd had and the day of fighting, both were tiring. Now they both used all of their skill, and it soon became obvious who would come out the victor in this battle. Demando was too angry and impulsive to completely match her graceful and controlled style of fighting, and they both knew it.

That should have been a warning, she supposed.

This was a war, and he knew that if he lost the fight, he would die. This made Demando desparate to do something, anything, to turn the tides. And if that were not possible, he wanted to at least have done something that made a difference. It was kind of predictable, actually. A child that did not get what it wanted would throw a temper tantrum; his actions were comparable to that.

With an angry growl, he disengaged from his fight with her and used the last of his strength to make a charge for the King. By then, he was bleeding from several wounds and his death was certain; the only difference anything made was time. With his sword raised and a scream at his soldiers to distract anyone, he made his final attack.

She noticed the generals and her brother trying desparately to fight their way back in time. Her future husband was without a sword and had no way of defending himself, still on the ground and unable to get up because of his wound. This was the last of Demando's strenght, and in that split second she realized it would be impossible to get a sword in between them that would have enough strength backing it to be able to prevent what was about to happen. Anything she could get there in time would simply be knocked away, the angle all wrong.

It wasn't that hard of a decision.

Using all the force in her legs to jump, she used the only thing that could prevent Demando from making a killing blow to her future husband; another body. His life was more important than hers, after all. He had a kingdom to lead and friends that cared about him. She had friends that didn't know her, a brother she'd hardly see because she'd been used for a trade agreement and a future husband that resented having to get married to her. Overall, it was obvious what the best solution was.

At the same moment she landed on top of her husband-to-be, she felt the sword pierce her upper chest. It was a strange feeling, more as though something heavy had landed on her shoulder than as though a sword was sticking through, the tip hovering inches away from her future husband's heart. She didn't even feel too much pain, just looking down at the sword that had gone straight through her body.

Her brother's cry of pure rage broke through the numb void she was in, and she felt the moment the hands let go of the sword. From the sounds, she inferred her brother had just beheaded Demando in his rage. Everything seemed to be going twice as slow as normal, and it took a while before she felt her brother's hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him and allowing her future husband's generals to pull him out from under her.

To her brother, it didn't matter that she was wearing dark clothing or a mask – he recognized her anyhow. Blue eyes met blue as he tried to discern whether she was still alive. There was an awful feeling in her chest, but at least the sight of the blade sticking through her was no longer there. Someone was calling for a medic, and she thought it was one of her friends. Her brother was slowly taking her hood and mask off.

Soon enough, her hair and face were exposed to everyone else, and she heard a few cries of shock and horror. She supposed those were her friends', although by now she wasn't sure of much anymore. Everything was slow-moving and she had to focus to even see her brother's lips moving. With a bit more focusing, she could actually hear what he was saying.

"Hush, Serenity, everything'll be alright. They're going to get a doctor over here and they're going to heal you and everything is going to be just fine. Don't give up now, come on Serenity. Please don't give up now, keep fighting, I'm here and everything will be okay. Come on, little sister, stay with me now, right? You can do it, just focus on my voice, okay?" There was a scuffle in the background, but she just focused on her brother in front of her, knowing that any straying attention would likely cause unconsciousness which could easily result in death. So she kept fighting to stay awake, squeezing his hand where it was holding hers. It was slick with blood, but she ignored that fact and just kept holding on.

Then there was a pressure on her chest, both at the front and from behind, and she knew the medics had arrived and were trying to stop the bleeding. By now, all focus on conversation was lost and she was only just remaining conscious. The medics were having a conversation, she was aware, and her brother was what appeared to be arguing with someone else.

In the end, it didn't matter much. Sensations kept fading away and at a certain point, she could only vaguely see some clouds in the blue sky that belied what had happened that day. It didn't take long for those to fade away as well and for darkness to welcome her in its comforting grasp, and her last thought was to keep fighting, or she'd just be useless in the end.

~*~

Awakening came in a familiar room, and her first thought was that they had returned to the castle again. Or at least, she had. Her second thought was that she was alive, something she honestly hadn't expected anymore. However long she'd remained conscious, she had known the wound was a serious one. While she didn't feel much of it at the moment, she supposed it would take quite some time to heal completely. Best be careful not to move too much, she told herself.

That became difficult when the third thought entered her head; she wasn't alone. Not only was there someone with her, it was her very much asleep husband-to-be.

Mystified, she stared at where he was sitting in a chair that was probably quite uncomfortable to sleep in. Of all the people she'd expected to find at her bedside in what seemed to be the middle of the night, it certainly hadn't been him. Even if the war had ended – which seemed to be the case – and everyone was back at the castle – which she presumed was true, considering he was there – there still should've been quite a lot to do that was a more useful way to spend his time than sitting by her bedside. Especially considering his actions before he had left her.

There wasn't much use wondering about it at the moment, however, since he was asleep and wouldn't be able to answer the questions anyway. Well, he would if she woke him up, but he just looked too darn cute when he was sleeping. Even when spying on him, she hadn't seen him this unguarded. And he seemed a bit too tired to be answering questions while he should be sleeping, if the near-bruises underneath his eyes were any indication. Still, she risked her health moving a bit in order to put a blanket on him, considering it wasn't the warmest of nights. At least her suspicions were right and moving her chest too much was definitely hurtful. Laying back down, she soon fell asleep again.

It was daytime the next time she woke up. Again, she observed her surroundings, noticing not much had changed – including the presence of her husband-to-be, surprisingly. He was currently sitting at the desk against the wall and working on a pile of papers she didn't envy him and he hadn't yet noticed that she was awake. She took that time to study him in the light of day.

He still appeared tired and he wasn't as well-groomed as he usually was. There was also quite a lot of frustration evident on his face as he regarded the amount of work he still had to do. It amused her to no end when he sighed an obvious sigh of relief when he finished yet another paper before looking at the 'to do' pile miserably. She'd rarely seen him this unguarded and was enjoying the opportunity to just watch him.

A wistful smile appeared on her face. This was the side of her future husband she rarely saw. Usually, when he was around her, he was in control and cold, not allowing any emotion to show except for contempt. He only ever talked to her when she tried to engage him in the activity first, and then only to tell her he neither needed her company nor her mindless chatting. These memories made her wonder, again, what he was doing in her room when he could be sitting in the comfortable private study she'd only been allowed to enter once. Perhaps a misguided sense of obligation, considering she'd practically given her life for his? Well, no option but to ask, she supposed.

"Excuse me?" she ventured, hoping to draw his attention to the fact that she was awake.

His head snapped to face her and, once noticing that she was awake and aware, gave her a smile and moved to her bedside. Her eyes widened at the unfamiliar sensation of having his smile directed at her, and he seemed to sadden. She honestly had no idea what was with him, so she only hoped he would explain some things to her before turning back to the way he usually was.

Gently, he asked if she was alright and if there was anything she needed. Still puzzled, she requested some water and he promptly got it for her. When asked if she wanted anything else, she responded that she'd like to know what had happened since the battle with Demando.

Apparently, she had been right when she'd assumed her brother had killed Demando. There was some chaos on the battlefield as the enemy soldiers were clueless as to what should happen next. Safiru and Esmeraude had taken control and told them to pull back, before requesting a conversation with her future husband and her brother about peace negotiations. Those had been done with soon enough, neither party wanting any more dead and both former enemies agreeing their older siblings had gone about things the wrong way. The exact content of the peace treaty was still unknown, but they'd made a lot of progress in the twelve days she'd been out of commission. Her brother came to visit her a lot, as well as her friends and even sometimes their husbands.

The careful omission of his own involvement didn't go unnoticed by her, though, and she carefully admitted he seemed to be acting a bit weird, afraid he'd lash out again. With sorrow-filled eyes, he turned away, making her wonder even more about what was going on. Then, he turned back to her. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget what he said then.

"First of all, I really want to apologize for the way I've been behaving toward you. After... After all I've done and said to you, I don't expect you to believe this, but I'll spend every moment after this proving it to you. You deserve that, especially after what you did for me even though I was completely wrong in the way I treated you. I mean, I was always... I always said the wrong things to you and I always behaved incorrectly when it came to you, and it's just...

"I never wanted to get married, like I told you. My parents, they weren't very happy together after having been forced to wed in order to unite two countries, and I never wanted that for myself. And then I found myself forced to do so anyway, because it was the only way your father would agree to any sort of treaty between our countries, and in a way I resented you for that, even though it wasn't your fault and I don't think you wanted that either.

"But then you came here, and you were so different from what I'd expected. I was fully prepared to resent you when you got here, and I suppose that I did in the beginning. That changed, though, as you spent more time here and I got to know you better and I saw what you were really like. It was almost unreal and I had no idea how to deal with everything, so I just pushed you away even further in hopes that things would get better. And they just kept getting worse.

"Then there was that war to worry about, and I just wanted you to stay safe and away from there, admittedly also because I didn't think you'd last. And then I got to know your brother there and I got to know even more about you and I've been so wrong all that time. I was fully prepared to make up for everything when we would get back, and then for a while I didn't think we were going to because there were just too many of them and I wasn't sure we'd even win.

"Finally, there was that battle between you and Demando, and I didn't know it was you at first. But then your brother was taking off that hood and I saw your hair and I didn't want to believe it, and then the mask came off and it really was you and I was so terrified that I'd never get to tell you the truth and to apologize for everything I've done to you and I was just so scared that I'd lose you..."

It could be the fact that she'd just woken up, or that she was still quite weak from her wound, but she didn't get where he was going with his entire story. Her eyes appeared to be telling him the same thing, because he sighed and drew his hand through his already messy hair. She absently thought it looked incredibly good on him, not to mention quite cute in combination with that awkward face.

"What I'm trying to say is... I love you."

She wondered if it was possible for a mind to completely freeze and focus in on one single thing. If it was, that single thing was this statement. It was his face as he looked at her for a reaction and it was his eyes as he tried to convey the sincerety of his statement. For a moment, time stopped.

Then, it continued once again, and it just wasn't possible for her to believe that this man loved her – not after everything that had happened and after all the things that had shown the exact opposite. It would be too perfect and this could only be wishful thinking.

Having caught on to her train of thought, he looked back down, ashamed. "I promise, Serenity, I'll do everything I can to prove it to you. I'm not lying, but it's okay if you believe I am, for now. I'll prove to you that I'm not, though, and one day you'll believe it. I swear, I'll make you believe me. Just, please, give me a chance to do so?" Strangely enough, he did seem sincere when he said this.

Although she didn't know what to think of it, she nodded. No matter now much she tried to stop the hope before it surfaced, it couldn't be helped. Perhaps her love wouldn't be one-sided after all. A tear escaped before she even realized it, caused by her desparate will to believe what he was telling her.

Before she could do anything, he reached up a hand and caught the tear on its way down. "One day soon, these will be tears of happiness," he promised her softly, and she couldn't help the small flame of belief from growing.

Perhaps, Endymion really did love her in return.

**~The End~**

That was it for now. Although I have to admit, I have considered doing a second one from Endymion's POV. What do you think, should I do it or not?

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it. Hugs,  
MoonlightKitten22


	2. Because of You

_Disclaimer_: Don't own it, don't want to.

Since everyone seemed enthusiastic about Endymion's POV; here it is. It clears up a few more things, hope it's not disappointing. Thank you for all of your reviews about the previous chapter, I really loved getting them. I must admit it took a while to get this out, but suffice to say university started again and there's quite a lot of reading involved, leaving me with less time; my apologies for this.

Also, to one of my reviewers (LadyArcana81); thank you for your comment, I don't know how realistic her fighting is (I'm not an expert and it is mostly based on just my fantasy – so I suppose it's not very realistic) but it should also be taken into account that she's not doing too much straight-out fighting. Most of her kills are quick, sneak attack ones with no resistance from her intended target and even in fighting, she is mostly evading rather than attacking. Furthermore, everyone she's fighting has been in a lot of battles already and is more tired than she is, considering she was in the castle before that.

**~Because of You~**

To put it frankly, he was irritated. Nothing was going the way he wanted it to and he couldn't even sleep. Tonight was yet another night of pacing across his tent and hoping sleep would come to him sometime soon. He knew he'd need his rest if he wanted to be able to at least make a dent in his enemy's army tomorrow, but there was just too much to think about right now. Not to mention that his shoulder wound was still hurting quite a lot.

Although it might be stupid in the middle of a war, his wife-to-be was the most important thing on his mind. He had been stupid to accept the agreement with her father. Their kingdom was richer than his and he'd really wanted to set up an official trade with them. The other king had agreed, as long as he married his youngest daughter. In no way had he been looking forward to that, but if it was for the good of his kingdom, he would. Besides, he'd have to get married one day, and he supposed this would be as good as it would get.

From what he'd seen from his parents, he'd never expected to find love like the one he'd seen with his generals and their wives. In fact, he'd been prepared to hate the princess that was to come to his castle six months early, in order for them to get to know one another. Nothing had prepared him for the actual experience.

Her beauty had thrown him off first, but he'd seen too many beautiful women to let that sway him in any way. They were usually worse, since they thought too highly of themselves. He made sure to keep telling her every step of the way, if she kept insisting to talk to him, that he did not want to marry her and that she should really stop trying. Her words wouldn't sway him, and this was nothing more than a marriage of convenience.

Then, when she'd finally gotten the clue to stay away from him, he started seeing her around the castle. She talked with his generals' wives and even the generals themselves, and they were charmed. So he started looking at her and discovered a kind woman that was trying to do her best in a strange environment where she knew no one.

Slowly but surely, he'd found himself falling for her and this only caused him to push her away further. After all, this only made her more able to hurt him in the end. He had hoped pushing her away would make it better, even if he didn't know exactly how it should be helping. Still, allowing her to come close after all those other women, after all he'd seen from his parents, was too difficult for him to think on, and so he kept on pushing her away by telling her he didn't want to marry her, that he hated her even, and he treated her more like an enemy than like his future wife.

He'd never tell her, but the war between him and Demando wasn't just about ground or riches. The other man had wanted _his_ future wife, ever since she had been young, and was enraged that she was to marry him. It probably hit exceptionally hard since they'd been rivals since childhood, but nonetheless this was what finally caused the war that had been brewing for years already.

Getting Beryl's support hadn't been hard for Demando, since she was still enraged at his refusal to marry the crazy woman. Fortunately, he'd gotten his own support from his wife-to-be's kingdom in the form of her brother, who had joined him on the battlefield. He found he liked the other man and they quickly became good friends, often just talking in the evenings in order to calm down from their heavy days. It was unfortunate that the subject also returned to his sister quite a lot, considering she was to marry him.

Through this source, he got to know her even better and came to admire the things he was told about her. More than ever, he fell for her and couldn't wait to get married to her. But he was also coming to regret the way he had been acting toward her, knowing she hadn't deserved any of it. His goodbye to her had been awful and had actually angered her, something he hardly ever succeeded in no matter how he treated her.

And now, Endymion was starting to think that there might not be time to make it up to her.

It had soon become clear that Demando's army was larger than his was, so they were at a distinct disadvantage. Then, he'd gotten hurt in a battle because of an arrow that had fortunately only pierced his shoulder. It still impaired his fighting, though, and he was questioning whether he'd make it out alive if it came to a personal battle between his enemy and himself. Which would soon happen, he suspected, since they both tired of the war and wanted it to be over with.

Of course, he hadn't told his wife-to-be all of this. The last thing he wanted was to worry her. By now, her brother had made it clear to him that she was able to fight, but he still didn't want her anywhere near this massacre.

He'd been treating her wrong all this time, and since he couldn't seem to get her safe from himself, he'd surely keep her safe from this war. When it was finished, he would go back to his castle and tell her everything, he would make sure that she knew he cared about her more than he ever had for anyone. He would make up for everything that he had done to her in an effort to push her away.

That would be hard, since he had a lot to make up for, but almost dying had put things in perspective and he knew he didn't want to lose her. He'd finally realized what she meant to him and what she could come to mean for him in the future, and he wasn't going to lose her now. Not to Demando and most certainly not to his own stupidity.

Some talking to her friends and her brother had helped this along, of course, since they'd all made sure to tell him he was being an idiot and he'd better get his head out of his behind. By then, it had been a little too late to tell her in person and he hadn't wanted to send her a letter explaining things. That would be too impersonal and he wanted it to be sincere. He wasn't as sure now, since it looked as though they might be well on their way of losing this war. A depressing thought, however truthful it was. Right now, a miracle would be needed if they wanted to stand a chance at winning.

Dissatisfied with the results of his thinking, he moved to lay down. He knew he'd be needing all the strength he could get if he wanted to be able to fight the next day. Battles were exhausting and both armies were tiring as it were. The last thing his men needed was a leader that was tired because he couldn't get his future wife out of his mind.

It still took quite a while before he was able to fall asleep, as it seemed that he was unable to stop his thoughts from wandering to his worries. Everything just appeared impossible at the moment, and he wondered where he had gone so wrong as to have it result in this situation.

Perhaps it had been when he'd first met Demando. They'd both been children then, and he and his parents were visiting the other kingdom. The prince had been a spoilt brat even back then, but he had tried being kind to the other. An end had been put to that when Demando was of the unshakeable opinion that the other's horse really should belong to him, since it was a majestic horse and he deserved the best. A fight had started then that never really ended.

Since that hadn't been his fault, he supposed keeping up the fight might've been the problem. Although, to his defence, Demando had never apologized for his behaviour back then since he still thought he was in the right. And he sure as hell wasn't going to apologize for something he was not only right about but that he also hadn't caused in the first place.

In the end, it might be the fact that he would be marrying the princess Demando had wanted himself. Even this wasn't his fault, though, since he hadn't really known that his wife-to-be was the woman the other king had desired for so long. That was probably the limit of the other king, and he had declared a war not long after. He supposed the other had made sure to do so before they got married, since it would be easier to claim her for himself.

Finally, Endymion's breath evened out in sleep, his last thought on his wife-to-be and how she was doing.

~*~

Waking up was never his favorite part of the day, but he knew it would be necessary. Like every morning, he briefly prepared himself before moving to the tent where they usually did their tactical planning. A few of his generals and their wives were already there, as well as his future wife's brother and a few of his generals. He greeted everyone and sat down at the head of the table.

Not long after, all of them were there, and they soon got to planning. It was one of his generals that told them that something seemed to have happened to Demando's army overnight and that they were pretty evenly matched now. No one knew what had happened, exactly, but all they knew for now was that the war had evened out, and that they stood a chance again. All of them were happy, since this was about the first good news they'd gotten along the course of all the fighting.

For the next hour, they were discussing how to best use this to their advantage, and they all knew some sort of decision had to be reached in the next couple of days. No matter how much the advantage of the other army was gone, they were going to end up simply fighting everyone to death if things continued as they had.

He decided not to tell any of them that he was planning to confront Demando today. Not because he didn't trust them, but because he knew they would protest to his actions. Although it would be easier if they knew, since they could help him out in that case, it would also mean that they would insist he wait a couple of more days, and he wanted to prevent as many deaths as possible. Today had to be the day.

With their course mapped out for the day, all of them went outside to command their armies. Heading for the battlefield, they found Demando's army already there and ready for battle. Both armies charged, once again starting the bloodshed.

Part of his army went over the side, trying to drive the enemies into the forest, but it didn't help too much. They heard stray whispers of a demon and wondered what that was all about. It was entirely possible that was what had happened to the army to have it cut down so much. If he wasn't mistaken, they all looked somewhat tired as well, although they all were after so many days of fighting one another.

His first encounter with Demando was from a distance, and the other king demanded to know why he'd sent the demon into his camp. He was clueless, but it did confirm his suspicions about what had happened. Apparently, his enemy also saw that he didn't know, so he quickly went back to fighting.

The second encounter was what they had both been waiting for; a personal confrontation between the both of them. They were headed directly at one another and soon met, swords as well as eyes clashing harshly.

Both of them were talking, trying to lure the other into an impulsive attack. It was soon discovered that talking about his future wife was able to get the both of them in a rage, which made it both the best and the worst subject to be talking about. Eventually, it turned out Demando's 'your precious little fiancee will soon be the spoils of this war for me' and the lecherous grin on his face that broke his control, provoking him into attacking. Not the wisest move, as soon became apparent when he was on the ground, another wound in his leg and Demando's sword above him.

The screams of his generals, as well as his future wife's brother reached his ears, but they had been locked out by enemy soldiers. He cursed mentally as he realized this whole confrontation had been Demando's plan from the beginning and knew this would be the end.

That thought was confirmed when the man prepared himself for the final strike, with another lecherous grin and an 'I'll have _everything_ that once belonged to you, now'. More screaming filled the air as the sword came flying down at him, but he couldn't do much more than stare back at his enemy, never showing any fear even in the face of death.

Until another sword appeared in front of him.

Whispers of 'demon' could be heard, and he was surprised to see a small figure dressed in black attached to the sword that had saved his life. There was no way an entire army of enemy soldiers were afraid of this tiny thing, no matter how grateful he was that it had saved him.

Demando seemed excited to get to fight this new ally and he vaguely noticed all sound around them had stopped temporarily, taking in the scene currently playing out in front of him. Both were taking the other in consideration, trying to see what kind of enemy they were. He was kind of curious as to how much of a fight the small figure would be able to give, and he was given the opportunity when Demando attacked.

It was obvious the figure was just teasing him, evading all of his attacks and angering him more every time it actually worked. Looking back at this fight, it was highly likely that he would thoroughly enjoy the look on his enemy's face as someone finally refused him something he wanted and didn't even seem all too serious about it. This was the ultimate way to annoy a man that thought he should be crowned King of the World and self-absorbed enough to think everyone and everything should revolve around him. The question was how well the figure would do when forced to fight back, though.

Soon enough, that became obvious as well. The figure started fighting back, even though it was still more focused on evasion rather than confrontation, and the two of them looked amazing. He regretted having to say so, but Demando had serious skill and it was being matched by this small black figure. As things got more and more intricate, he realized he would have some trouble if he had to fight this figure as well, since their fighting skills were amazing.

The two of them were beyond impressive, and he was so busy staring at them he hadn't even realized the circle of enemy soldiers had widened enough for his generals and his wife-to-be's brother to get near him. All of them were as mesmerized by the fighting as he was, and he noted his friends' faces taking in all of the moves being made, hoping they'd be able to learn some of the ones they hadn't yet known.

Beryl's inclusion in the fight had been a surprising one, but unfortunately she had been smart enough to order soldiers to hold back him, his generals and his friend. There was nothing they could do as the fight became two against one, but it seemed it wasn't that necessary either. Even though the initial attack was unexpected and had delivered another wound on the figure, it soon became apparent that their number didn't give them an advantage. Beryl and Demando couldn't fight together (and he secretly suspected Demando's self-importance had as much of a role in there as Beryl's barely above mediocre skill with a sword) and the figure was easily able to evade attacks and rest some while the other two were trying – and failing – not to interfere with one another.

Their horrid display soon became tiring, however, and the figure seemed to want to end it so that the true fight with Demando could be resumed. He noticed it didn't take long for the figure to drive Beryl into a vulnerable situation and kill her with one blow. His eyes fell onto Demando, who obviously wasn't trying very hard to prevent this from happening.

Although the loss of one enemy did help, he couldn't help but feel sorry when he heard Esmeraude's cry at the loss of her sister. When his eyes finally found her, he was almost surprised that she was looking with hatred not at the figure that had just killed her sister, but at Demando himself. He knew that, even if this fight was lost, their cooperation would be destroyed because of the other man's actions, so there would be less to worry about in such a case. A slight sense of regret filled him as he thought of the situation so coldly, but it was war and it was necessary at the moment.

Then, the fight between Demando and the figure was on again and if it had previously been impressive, it was now completely incredible. Both seemed to be ready to put everything to an end and were throwing all of their skill into the battle, swords clashing and swinging at one another in an intricate dance he'd have a hard time following himself.

Slowly, it became clear that the fighting would have to end soon enough – no matter how amazing it looked, wounds were being acquired by both parties and something had to give. To his surprise, it seemed this would be Demando, even though he was obviously bigger and stronger than his opponent. He seemed to realize this as well, as his attacks became more desparate and clumsy. His chances kept getting worse.

It still shocked him when the man suddenly turned to him and charged, his generals and friend crying out but unable to do anything due to their enemies' hold on them. Once again, he was ready to face death, and once again, there was interference.

Demando's look was that of a madman as he charged, his sword held out to stab his enemy straight in the heart. The only thought on his mind at that moment was his future wife; how she'd react to the news of his death, what she would do now that she had been set free from her obligation to him and how he wished he could have told her everything he'd wanted to.

And then there was a slight weight on his chest as the sword reached him.

Looking down, he saw that the black-clad figure had taken the blow for him, the sword sticking out of their shoulder and hovering just inches from his own chest. For a moment, he was unable to do anything, shocked anyone would take a blow like this for him, especially someone he didn't even know.

Then, he heard his friend's desparate cry as he wrestled free from the one that held him and charged Demando, the sword cutting the man's head straight off. Everything had broken into chaos and he vaguely heard Esmeraude calling for her army to retreat back to camp, Safiru doing the same after a little while.

Meanwhile, his friend was carefully lifting the body of the figure off his chest as two of his generals took charge of his army while the other two were helping him sit up, his leg wound hindering any movement. The tears on his friend's face surprised him as the other man looked down at the figure, and for the first time he realized his friend must know who it was that had been fighting Demando.

There was no time for any of them to ask him, since he slowly started removing the hood and mask. One of his generals' wives was called for, not only a great strategical thinker but also a beyond good doctor. It would take a little while for her to reach them, though.

When the hood was removed from the figure, his breath caught in his chest and he was unable to say anything. No matter what, that hair he would always recognize. And when the mask was removed and his worst suspicions confirmed, he let out a broken cry, pulling out of his generals' arms as they protested against it and crawling to his friend and his wife-to-be.

Her breathing was labored and she seemed to be unable to focus on anything, although she was doing a good job of keeping her eyes on her brother's. He was unable to hear what his friend was saying to her, exactly, looking at the severy bleeding wound on her shoulder as well as all the other wounds she'd gotten in her defense of him. Quickly, he started applying pressure to her wounds, begging for the bleeding to stop before it killed her.

Finally, the medics arrived as they started asking questions. He was answering them as well as he could, since his friend was still talking to the small form of his future wife. Then, they told him to back off and he protested, telling them he was going to stay with her. It was his friend that finally made him let go, telling him that she needed help he couldn't provide for her and that he'd end up killing her if he kept refusing to let her go.

With great regret, he watched her being carried off by the medics, only then noticing the tears on his own face. Breathing was difficult at the moment, since all he could feel, could see, could smell was her blood on him. Then, the medics came to him to in order to take care of his leg wound. He'd completely forgotten about it.

At the moment, Endymion was completely numb.

~*~

Waking up brought him back to the cold of reality, something he wasn't entirely sure he was ready for. It soon became clear he'd better be, since there was quite a lot to do in the wake of the war.

Over the next week, he was hardly able to visit his wife-to-be due to his various obligations. He knew she seemed to be doing quite well and that it was likely she would recover from her wound. The doctors told him she was a fighter, and he could only nod as he remembered the graceful fighting she'd displayed before... before _it_. He told himself he'd get his obligations done as quick as possible so that he could be there for her when she woke up and to be able to explain everything to her, like she deserved from him.

All of them had moved back to the castle, where it was much easier to organize everything and make sure everyone would be alright. His future wife was back in her old room, and whenever he wasn't doing anything, he was sleeping beside her bed.

Negotiations with Safiru and Esmeraude, as well as getting his country back in order and make sure all of the perished soldiers got a proper burial, were exhausting enough to make sure he didn't have any time to think on anything else, and he was grateful for this. For now, he had to focus on being a good King and making sure his country was doing well. The distraction was the only thing that kept him standing.

Both of the former enemies were a lot more reasonable than their older siblings had been, and while they were willing to shoulder enough responsibility for the war to satisfy him and his friend, they also weren't willing to act as though they were the sole cause for the entire fight. It didn't take long for both parties to agree there would be a treaty. For now, they just agreed not to take up weapons against one another for an entire year, in which they would negotiate the exact contents of a treaty between them.

Finally, that was over and the two of them went back to their own countries, prepared to restore the order and take up the responsibilities their older siblings had shouldered before them. It left them to take care of their own contries.

Regretfully, his friend left as well, promising he would be back as soon as he had given his father his rapport about the war. His friend would've preferred not to leave his sister at all, of course, but it was an obligation he could not escape. He offered that his friend would always be welcome and that he would be delighted to have him back as soon as possible, knowing his wife-to-be would enjoy the company of her brother.

With all of that done and mostly a lot of paperwork to be done, he practically locked himself into his wife's room. All his food was brought there and he didn't even leave her side to sleep, preferring to do so in the – admittedly extremely uncomfortable – chair beside her bed. There, he could finally think fully on what had happened that last day of the war.

His future wife was a fighter, in both senses of the word. He could still recall the way she'd gracefully evaded Demando's attacks and how she would've defeated him, hadn't it been for his cowardly actions. He could still recall the callings of 'demon' and how Safiru and Esmeraude had told him what had happened in their camp that night. He could still recall the amount of blood covering her, him, his friend and the ground around him as she stared up with empty eyes, trying hard to keep conscious.

More than ever, he regretted not getting to know her the way he should have. She was kind, beautiful and strong. The perfect wife had been thrown in his lap, and all he had done was shove her away because he was afraid to let her in. To think of how things could've been, if he hadn't acted the way he had.

He imagined long walks in his secret garden, hidden away from everyone but him, as they talked about all kinds of subjects – he knew she was intelligent. He imagined them training together, their swords dancing beautifully as they challenged one another – he knew she was an amazing fighter. He imagined having someone he could talk to and could dance with at one of the various parties he was forced to attend every year, men staring at him in envy – he knew she was beautiful and a delightful companion. He imagined them making plans for their wedding together, arguing playfully over small and unimportant details – he knew she would keep on challenging him. He imagined them sneaking out together just to annoy their guards, laughing and going to visit the riverside his mother had shown him when he was very young – he knew she was playful. He imagined their wedding itself, finally being able to kiss those lips he'd been yearning for, and he imagined their wedding night – he knew she was innocent. He imagined their life together – he knew he loved her.

Now all he could hope was that she could love him too.

It had been beyond stupid of him to treat her the way he had, and she had deserved none of it. But he would make it up to her, he would show her that he loved her, that she was the one for him and that he wasn't the complete ass he'd been acting as. All of those things he'd been dreaming of, he would do. He would do whatever it took to make her happy.

Aside from doing the paperwork necessary for the kingdom, he wrote down the exact things he wanted to tell her when she woke up. He wrote down plans for outings and plans to woo her when she woke up. He wrote down ideas for their wedding that he resolved to talk to her about when she woke up. At night, he rested in the chair on the side of her bed, unwilling to leave her.

One day, the tenth, his generals had dragged him away to clean up some, claiming he wouldn't want her to be terrified when she woke up to see him sitting next to her. They'd also gotten him to train a bit again, although his shoulder and leg still bothered him. He wouldn't want to get fat and lazy, after all, now would he? He returned to her as quick as possible, but the woman he'd left with her, one of his generals' wives, told him she hadn't woken up yet.

Everyone was hoping she'd wake up as soon as possible, both for her sake and his. He'd heard his generals talking when they thought he was out of earshot, about how she wasn't the only one wasting away. The servants, too, had seemed to have taken a liking to their future queen over her time at the castle and did what they could to make her as comfortable as possible.

Finally, on the twelfth day, she truly woke up. Her brother had returned two days before and was a regular visitor to her room. Her friends visited a lot too, his generals a bit less. That morning, they were all meant to go do something together, but he'd refused to go as long as she hadn't woken up, at least. He suspected she'd been awake that night as well, since he'd found a blanket on top of himself when he woke up and he was pretty sure none of the servants had done it, but he wasn't willing to wake her up just to confirm his suspicions in the morning. So he went to work again, looking at her once in a while to see if her eyes had opened yet. Every rustle had his eyes snap to look at her. Of course, it could be that he just needed an excuse to get away from all of the paperwork waiting for him at the desk.

Frustration replaced relief as he grabbed another document, having finally finished the exhausting previous one. He'd only barely gotten a look at what was on _this_ one when a soft voice interrupted his reading, and he instantly turned to face his wife-to-be.

A smile lit up his face as his eyes looked into her bright blue ones, and it was obvious that she was not only awake but also aware of everything around her. Those eyes instantly displayed surprise. Realizing this was because he'd never smiled at her before, he felt a sense of regret and he couldn't keep his eyes on hers.

Moving to the side of the bed, trying to walk on his wounded leg as normally as possible, he asked if there was anything she wanted. His voice was gentle, which she seemed to find strange, but she did request some water. Walking to the door, he told the servant that had been stationed there that he needed some fresh water instantly and that she was to get his future wife something light to eat in a bit, since she needed the sustenance badly at the moment.

When the water had been delivered, he returned to her side and helped her drink a few sips, since she was too weak to do so herself. Needing his help seemed to embarrass her and he hoped it was mostly because she wanted to be independent instead of it being the fact that it was him helping her. Then, she requested to hear what had been going on since Demando's attack.

It was hard, but he managed to make sure his voice didn't break as he told her what had happened just after she had taken the blow for him. Her brother's anger, his beheading of Demando and the following chaos. Then he proceeded to tell her what had happened afterwards, the peace negotiations going on and his efforts to get his country back to the way it had been before. He told her of her many visitors, meanwhile helping her take another few sips of water during his story. Carefully, he told her nothing of himself, not sure she would want to hear it and knowing he wouldn't be able to keep himself under control if he did.

Of course, that couldn't last too long and she admitted to him that he was acting odd. He knew she was pointing out that he was being nice to her, since this was the way any man should treat the woman that he loved, if not better. He was ashamed of the hesitance that was in her voice as well, knowing that she expected him to snap at her for what she'd said – something he would have done before but now knew he would try his hardest to never do again. It was obvious his actions had hurt his usually strong wife-to-be, and again he couldn't keep looking at her.

Such _stupidity_, there was no need for him to treat her the way he had. He'd just been too scared of what could happen if he started to care for her, not realizing that he had done so in the end, anyway, until it was too late to admit it and he was on a battlefield trying to stay alive. Not only had it been useless, it had also hurt the one person he had come to care so much about, and he would stop at nothing to make this right.

Starting with telling her the truth.

Once his eyes met her, his completely prepared speech flew out of the window and he started rambling about everything, probably not making any sense to her at all. He kept on rambling, telling her everything but that one important thing he most wanted to tell her. When he trailed off and looked into her eyes, he realized this.

She was still weak and had just awoken after twelve long, long days. Then, she found herself confronted with a future husband that not only acted completely different than how she was used to him acting, but that also started rambling without there appearing to really be a point to any of it except for a point that would be impossible for her to believe. After all, how could she ever draw the right conclusion when all he had done so far, except for this little time, had shown her the exact opposite.

Running his hand through his messy hair, he collected his thoughts. This needed to be exactly right, and he needed to stop rambling before she gave up on him. Then, he looked at her again.

"What I'm trying to say is... I love you."

Shock spread across her face, and she stopped breathing for a few seconds. It was clear this wasn't what she had been expecting. Then, the shock was replaced with quick joy before disbelief took over. No matter how much she wished, this couldn't be true – he could see her thoughts on her face.

Shame and determination took over, and he told her – promised her – that she needn't worry. For now, she should know and then he would start proving it to her, starting right this minute. This wouldn't be an easy forgive and forget, and he didn't want it to be. Considering her character he was afraid she'd forgive to easily and never forget, so he made a note to himself to make sure to talk to her friends about how they should make her make him truly prove it for her to forgive him. He didn't want it any other way and he didn't deserve it any other way, he knew.

When she would finally believe that he loved her, she could forgive him. When she would finally believe that he loved her, he might start forgiving himself. When she would finally believe that he loved her, she would _truly_ believe it. He would do anything.

Noticing the painful expression of hope on her face, he felt a stab straight through his heart, knowing he had caused this. And when the tear came down her face, he caught it, determined the only tears she would ever again cry because of him would be happy ones. He promised her this and she gave him a hesitant smile, trembling and unsure but a smile nonetheless and he promised himself he would help fix what he had broken.

He would make sure Serenity would never doubt his love for her.

**~The End~**

Well, that was it. I hope it wasn't too disappointing – I'm always afraid a sequel would come out forced or just plain bad, so I really hope that wasn't the case. It was nice writing this, I have to admit, because I had quite some ideas of how I wanted things to be from his perspective and I even built in a couple of things in the first chapter that would allow for another POV to explain what was happening exactly. Not as long as the first chapter, like I'd hoped, but still a satisfying lenght – any longer and it probably _would_ have been forced, I suppose.

Hope you enjoyed it, sorry for my rambling. Hugs,  
MoonlightKitten22


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